


A Child, a Drunkard, and a Fool Tell the Truth

by akatonbo, pantswarrior



Series: Untitled RP Timeline [1]
Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Drinking, Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 20:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/957487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akatonbo/pseuds/akatonbo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pantswarrior/pseuds/pantswarrior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barnaby's apartment has been commandeered for babysitting, Kotetsu is inexplicably shirtless and trying to drink all his alcohol, and Barnaby can't even figure out why Kotetsu is still <i>talking</i> to him, let alone doing things like taking a flaming crossbow bolt for him. Set during episode 9.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Child, a Drunkard, and a Fool Tell the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm akatonbo, the member of Dorkariffic who takes too long to edit stories! Yeeeeah, over two years later and I finally finished converting the first/second (chronologically first, but written second) story in our main Tiger & Bunny timeline into a proper third person limited POV. Please enjoy!

Barnaby still had no idea how he'd let Kotetsu talk him into lending the use of his apartment to take care of the Mayor's son. 

True, he didn't mind the old man's presence so much lately, and with no crisis for him to go charging into foolishly (at least, as long as Pao-Lin did the actual baby-minding), and some incentive not to goof around like an idiot, he could admit that it wasn't such a hardship to have his partner around. The kids weren't even any trouble (again, as long as it was Pao-Lin and not Kotetsu who looked after the boy). That didn't explain the slumber party that was currently going on in his apartment, and it _definitely_ didn't explain how he'd ended up with Kotetsu laying out all the contents of his liquor cabinet on the table, then mournfully exclaiming over how expensive it all was; he was going to have to go get some cheap beer so they would warm up, and _then_ they could appreciate the good stuff properly and have a good time.

Barnaby might have been struck by the contrast -- here was his partner, still noticeably favoring his right shoulder, already having produced a passable dinner for three from the contents of his bare kitchen, and now offering companionship as if either of them had chosen to spend time together, and here was his apartment, so woefully underfurnished for any sort of company that he didn't even have any place for another person to sit down -- but he would never have admitted it. And then he had gotten Pao-Lin settled in his bed, the baby beside her in his basket, and come back out to find Kotetsu making himself entirely too comfortable: back from his trip to the store for that (very cheap indeed) beer, he was sprawled in Barnaby's sole chair like he owned it, stripped to the waist (Barnaby couldn't even be too annoyed by that, because Kotetsu's shoulder was still heavily bandaged), and drinking terrible beer from a champagne flute.

He also couldn't have explained why... well, no, he knew exactly why he'd shown Kotetsu the data he'd collected, after it had come up on the screen accidentally earlier. Kotetsu had asked; he'd involved himself without even once pausing to consider that it wasn't his business, and this time... this time Barnaby couldn't bring himself to get angry about it.

Since his parents were murdered, Barnaby had always had people to support and take care of him. Mr. Maverick had been his parents' choice to serve as his guardian, and he had retained Samantha for the day-to-day business of raising a child and so Barnaby would have a familiar face close by. Between the two of them, he had never wanted for anything, except the presence of his mother and father themselves. Mr. Maverick had even helped him devise this plan and made it possible. But they had taken care of him from childhood, when he had no choice but to depend on adults, Maverick according to his parents' will, and Samantha as an employee, and even though he knew that neither of them did it for those reasons alone, that they genuinely cared for him, it wasn't the same as someone who -- no matter how many times Barnaby told him that good intentions couldn't excuse the trouble he caused, even when Barnaby had all but outright refused to work with him at all -- still kept trying to get involved in his life, like it had never even crossed his mind to wonder if the personal causes of a man he'd met only weeks ago, a man who'd spent most of those weeks trying to deal with him as little as possible, were worth his time and concern... like they were actually partners, instead of something Maverick had dreamed up that Barnaby hadn't felt he had a right to refuse.

Taking a shot that had been meant for him... because he'd let his rage get the better of him and attacked recklessly, then been unprepared to defend himself afterward. Who was the one who went charging in, and who the one holding back to think things through, this time? It made him angry... and it made him feel strangely warm at the same time.

And why was it that, when Kotetsu said 'you'll find him', he believed it more than he had in years?

Kotetsu, on the other hand, didn't seem to have anything serious on his mind; while Barnaby was lost in thought he'd drained his glass and now was pouring another. "Hey, Bunny. You're not going to make me drink all this by myself, are you?"

For a moment Barnaby was startled even though he'd already emerged from his thoughts. Then he shrugged diffidently. "I suppose not. I can't imagine many things more boring than standing around sober while you drink half my liquor cabinet." Crossing the room, he opened a can that proclaimed its contents to be HERO Classic Lager. He took a sip -- drinking it out of a champagne flute was ridiculous -- then made a face. "I think that's the worst canoe beer I've ever tasted."

"Can't say the same," Kotetsu muttered cheerfully, lifting the glass to his lips, and then removed it long enough to laugh as what Barnaby had said just hit him. "So you do get out now and then."

"When I have to." It probably would have sounded more like a joke if it weren't true. He took a longer drink from the can, since he wasn't joking at all about being bored if he had to watch Kotetsu get drunk when he wasn't at least tipsy enough to be tolerant. Kotetsu had a point about saving the good stuff for when they were already buzzed, and the faster he drank it, the less he'd have to taste it. "You might be surprised."

"I bet I would," Kotetsu acknowledged. "It's hard to imagine you as anything but uptight." He paused, then an expression Barnaby could only describe as inspired crossed his face. "So go ahead," he offered. "Surprise me."

"No thanks," said Barnaby. "I'm not in the mood to provide you with entertainment."

"Awwww..." Kotetsu took another drink. "Guess even if you get out, you don't know much about being a host." Another sip. "You never have anyone over, do you?"

"I didn't exactly intend to have anyone over this time either," Barnaby groused, perhaps just a bit defensively. He couldn't say he'd ever particularly wanted to have anyone over, either. To not be alone, sometimes, but not to have anyone specific be there. At least, not anyone who was alive.

"Point taken," Kotetsu muttered. "Better than all of us being at my place, though. There's a lot more room here." He glanced around. "At least, I think it's not just because you don't have any furniture."

"Are you going to sit in my only chair all night, old man?" Barnaby countered. He finished his beer and set the can down, considering whether he actually wanted another before switching to something more palatable.

"Where else am I going to sit?" Without asking, Kotetsu tossed him another can.

Barnaby caught the can easily, despite not having expected it. "The same place I'd have to sit while you're hogging my chair?" he suggested.

"Well, if you want to trade..." Kotetsu grabbed another can for himself and started to get up. "Since you probably don't want to share."

"That chair isn't going to hold two people unless they're _very_ friendly with each other," Barnaby said; he assumed the implication was obvious. "I suppose it's only fair that we both sit on the floor," he conceded after a moment, and did so, taking a seat on the edge of the steps around the recessed area that contained the chair.

"How is that fair?" Kotetsu settled himself next to the chair for the time being, and set the glass aside -- thankfully. Kotetsu already seemed unsteady, and Barnaby didn't want him to leave it on the floor only to forget it was there and knock it over. "All right, I guess it's fair," Kotetsu added, "but now there's a chair with no one sitting in it."

"Would it make more sense to take turns?" Barnaby didn't think it did, and he was vaguely annoyed that he was starting to think that maybe he should actually get some more seating. There was space by the window...

"Eh, never mind," Kotetsu said with a slightly stiff shrug and a smile. "With any luck, I'll forget where I'm sitting in a little while."

...and that uncomfortable-looking shrug reminded Barnaby again that Kotetsu was hurt looking out for him. "Much more to drink and you'll be glad you can't fall out of it," he said without much bite.

"I'm not anywhere near approaching that yet," Kotetsu stated, not very convincingly, since he followed it up by snickering into his hand at some imaginary joke. It occurred to Barnaby that Kotetsu probably had a higher alcohol tolerance than he did. Not that he was anywhere close to that state yet either, but he drew the line at two awful beers, and all the stuff that he had on hand was stronger, since his tastes were developed through a considerably classier form of social drinking than Kotetsu's apparently had been.

It also occurred to him that they were going to have to sleep somewhere too, and that he should probably let Kotetsu have the chair after all for that, with that shoulder injury.

Kotetsu got kind of quiet after that, working on his drink. Barnaby was accustomed to quiet, whether he was alone or simply around people who had the sense to leave him be, but he really _wasn't_ used to having anyone else in his apartment, quiet or not, and he was all too aware that quiet wasn't usually Kotetsu's thing. Two beers (or nearly that, anyway) was enough to loosen him up a little... but very little of what was on his mind was anything he wanted to talk about. He would almost have welcomed Kotetsu trying to fill the silence. 

Finishing off the can at least gave him a reason to get back up and pour himself a drink that actually tasted good. He saw Kotetsu following him with his eyes, but it seemed like he was just tracking the one thing in the room that was moving, rather than looking at _him_ in particular, until he broke the silence. "If you never have anyone over, why do you have all that?" Kotetsu waved in the direction of the bottles. "I'm guessing you don't come home and drink yourself to sleep after our jobs."

Barnaby sat back down with his glass of amaretto and took a sip before he replied. "Sometimes people have a drink when they're relaxing at the end of the day, old man, whether they have company or not. When I'm by myself I don't haul out everything in the cabinet like you did."

"Hey, I was just looking. Can't blame a guy for being curious."

Barnaby made a dismissive noise -- it wouldn't have been the first time he blamed Kotetsu for being curious -- and tried falling silent again, but that didn't work for long around Kotetsu. 

"If you ever want to go out for a drink after work, let me know," Kotetsu offered, undiscouraged. "It's a pretty regular thing with me and Antonio. And we do usually drink better stuff than this," he added with a chuckle.

It was a testament both to the fact that he'd warmed up to Kotetsu somewhat and the fact that he was starting to feel buzzed that Barnaby's answer was, "It's not the sort of thing I usually do," and not sharp refusal.

"I figured," Kotetsu said with a nod. "That's why I asked."

"That doesn't make sense," Barnaby complained, rolling his shoulders and then stretching them. Finally he was starting to relax a little... he wasn't altogether sure whether it was more or less difficult with Kotetsu around. Usually he would have said more, because he wasn't used to having company, but lately... the old man seemed to know how to get to him.

"I asked _because_ you don't usually do it, and I think maybe it'd be good for you. Or maybe just the two of us," he amended. "We're partners, aren't we?"

"We're having a drink together right now," Barnaby pointed out. And Kotetsu just... kept making more overtures, even though most of them had been rebuffed, some of them angrily. "Why do you..." He wasn't even sure how to put it. "Keep doing that kind of thing?"

"Like I said, I think it'd be good for you," Kotetsu replied. "It's not healthy... holing up in your high-rise apartment by yourself all the time."

Of course it wasn't healthy -- in some ways Barnaby was aware that not much about the way he lived his life was _healthy_ \-- but he didn't really care as long as it got results.

...so far he didn't have much in the way of results, either, but he was closer now than he'd been for a long time.

"That's not what I mean," he murmured. "Why do you _keep_ doing it?"

"Because I obviously haven't gotten it right yet, seeing as you're still blowing me off," Kotetsu mock-griped. "I know I'm the village idiot around here, but you're a tougher case than usual." Finished with his beer, he got up to pour himself something else, following Barnaby's lead and starting on the stronger liquor.

Barnaby was beginning to get annoyed now. "You're not answering the question. What are you-- why do you _bother_?"

Kotetsu sighed heavily as he poured his drink, an exaggerated show of frustration. "Why do I bother trying to talk to you outside of work-related stuff? Because it looks to me like you don't have anyone else to talk to. And maybe you don't want anyone else. And maybe that's because it's the only way you know how to live -- but it's not a way to live at all."

Barnaby wanted to be angry at that -- he _was_ angry at it, some, and he stood up with fists clenched so he'd be back on a level with Kotetsu again -- but it still didn't answer the question he kept trying to ask; there still wasn't anything in Kotetsu's reply that explained why he _persisted_.

"I keep telling you to stay out of my business," he said. "I keep telling you that I don't want to work with you. And you never give up, no matter how many times I--" Push him away, say unkind things, kick him when he was already down, bite his head off for being supportive when Barnaby was already angry with himself for losing his cool. "Anybody else would have taken the hint by now, but you keep trying again. Saying we're partners, getting yourself hurt on my account... why would you _do that_?" 

He had no idea, and any answer he could think of that would ever make sense for anyone was either ridiculous, or uncomfortable to think about, or... something.

Kotetsu just looked at him for a time, seeming puzzled. "I don't give up because... I don't give up. Not in my nature," he began. "I say we're partners because we are, whether either of us wanted it or not. And getting myself hurt on your account..." He paused, sipped at his drink, and frowned thoughtfully. "...I dunno, really."

"What kind of an answer is that?" Barnaby asked, subdued... and realizing afterward that it came out sounding petulant. He bent down to pick up his glass from the floor, and drank the last of what was in it. "...so, you keep getting in my face, even when I treat you like dirt, because you're just that stubborn? Figures." It still didn't make any sense.

"Well, when you put it that way, no." Kotetsu paused again. "You'll get m... you're already mad at me," he observed, "so I'll just say it: you don't know what you need, only what you want."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He was extremely dubious, but not exactly mad. The only thing he'd been mad about was not getting an answer to the question he was actually asking. Well, mostly.

"I told you you'd find him." There was no need for Kotetsu to clarify who he meant. "Say that happens tomorrow. Say we run into him on the job, and you get to take him down, arrest him... ask him everything you ever wanted to ask him, get all the answers you've been looking for, see him put away. Say the rest of us take down this organization of his, while you're busy with him. It doesn't exist anymore." Kotetsu paused, took another drink. "What do you do the day after tomorrow?"

"I'd... I have a job to do, even after I find my parents murderer." The answer came easily after his initial pause. "Especially after I find him, because being a hero has given me access to information I couldn't get by just researching and asking people as an ordinary stranger." Some part of him was aware that it was _too_ easy an answer, but... it was the answer he had.

"So Ouroboros is gone," Kotetsu restated. "And what gets you up in the morning, what you look forward to every day and look back on when you're lying in bed at night... is the possibility of scoring more points on this TV show?"

That... wasn't what he'd meant, exactly, but Barnaby didn't feel like trying to explain. "What are you getting at, old man?" All right, so he had some idea, but... he had no idea what the answer was, and he didn't know what it was like to not have this one goal driving everything else.

"If you're going to succeed," Kotetsu said, quiet, almost like he was talking to himself, "then there's going to be an 'after'. All that information that you've gathered, that's keeping you alive and moving forward, isn't going to be useful anymore. It's going to be irrelevant. You'll need something else. And I don't know if you've ever thought about that."

"...I've never gotten close enough to need to," Barnaby admitted, a little surprised by himself.

"You will," Kotetsu told him. "You've got the ability, you've got the determination. You're the only one who can do it, and the only one who has the right to. So it makes sense that you're the only one you've ever depended on... But afterwards, that's going to change. You might need something that you can't offer yourself."

Barnaby couldn't find anything to argue with, exactly, in that, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it, either, and he found himself coming back to the same question again. Why? Why did that matter to Kotetsu? At all, let alone enough that he'd keep trying and trying when all Barnaby did was brush him off and jump down his throat?

"And you think you're going to... I don't even know what you think you're going to do."

"To tell you the truth, neither do I," Kotetsu chuckled, and finished off what was left in his glass before pouring himself some more. "...Having special powers isn't what makes someone a hero, you know. It just makes us NEXT."

"I don't get you at all, old man," Barnaby said dismissively. He walked over to the table to get another drink himself; maybe he was just too sober to follow Kotetsu's line of... what passed for reasoning.

"See, what makes a hero..." Kotetsu sounded certain in tone, even if his head bobbled a little. "It can just be a regular person. You just have to do what has to be done. Even if it's hard, even if you don't understand why. You just do it. You asked why I took that hit for you... I couldn't do anything else."

"I'm not a regular person who can't take as much as you can," Barnaby pointed out, and took a sip from his glass. "Or somebody who just happened to be in the way. We have the same capabilities, except that I'm younger and actually put some effort into training, and I had attacked Lunatic myself. That wasn't something that had to be done."

"I could protect you," Kotetsu said simply. "So I protected you." He took another long drink, wandering over towards the window. "Someday, I think you'll come to understand that other people can be helpful. If you let them."

"That's not... you're not getting what I'm asking," Barnaby complained. "It's no use trying to repeat it again, I suppose."

Kotetsu shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure I do get it. You just don't like the answer. Or maybe you don't understand it yet, but you will someday." Kotetsu rolled his good shoulder and gave up. "Doesn't feel right to talk about this kind of stuff with kids in the place anyway -- they don't have to worry about it. Everything's changing so fast they don't have time to worry..."

Barnaby still wanted to keep arguing, because he _wasn't_ getting an answer to what he was trying to ask... but they'd been going around in circles for more than long enough already. He shrugged, going along with the subject change. "Dragon Kid... probably doesn't have much time to actually be a kid." Not that he'd been any better.

"Knowing her, I bet she finds a way now and then." Kotetsu grinned. "I bet this is the first time she's been a babysitter, though -- not her kind of thing."

"She's taken to it well enough, thank goodness." For the sake of everything breakable in his apartment, not to mention anywhere else the baby went.

"More like it took to her," Kotetsu chuckled, and came back for another drink. He looked relaxed. Barnaby couldn't say he felt the same. The drinks had only been relaxing him until he starting trying to figure out the mystery of Kotetsu T. Kaburagi.

Barnaby stepped aside from the table, since he still had a largely untouched drink that he took another sip of at the reminder. Maybe he should just sit back down and... well, any option involved finding something else to talk to Kotetsu about, probably.

Before he could even decide whether or not he was really going to try it, he tensed at a touch to his arm; Kotetsu had unexpectedly reached out, rested a hand there before he could get too far. "...Bunny," he said quietly. "Relax. Why does it have to be a disaster if someone wants to be nice to you?"

Barnaby didn't pull his arm away, at least. "It's not a disaster... I just don't see why anyone would keep trying after all the things I said."

"Because it seems to me like you need someone to be nice to you. That's all." Kotetsu smirked slightly. "Keep trying to act like you're not worth it, and it just proves my point."

That smirk was really annoying. ...not attractive. _Annoying._ "And you not only know what I need, you're going to... what, exactly?"

"Give it to you," Kotetsu replied, as if it was the obvious answer.

Now, Barnaby pulled his arm away, because this was getting kind of weird. "Do you think ahead at _all_?"

Kotetsu wobbled a little as he suddenly had to let go of Barnaby's arm. "Only when there's a decision to make," he said with a drunken wink. "Already made that one."

Barnaby closed his eyes in frustration, apparently not too tipsy yet himself to be able to stop himself from actually shouting when there were children sleeping in the other room. "Do you do this sort of thing often?" he asked flatly after opening them again.

"Nah..." Kotetsu started to sit down in the chair, then apparently remembered their conversation earlier and settled beside it instead. "Most don't fight it the way you do."

Barnaby gave Kotetsu a pointed, searching look. "No one--" Ever kept trying for very long after he made it clear he wanted to part of whatever they were offering. Or was ever very good at getting to him in the first place. "How can you just--" Talk about things he supposedly needed but didn't want, like he thought he was trying to save Barnaby from some awful fate, when they hardly even knew each other? "...exactly how long are you planning to keep this up?"

"I dunno." Kotetsu poured himself another drink. "Until I can't, I guess."

"What kind of an answer is that supposed to be?" Did he think he was just going to... keep doing this indefinitely and never get tired of it?

"A pretty normal one, for me," Kotetsu told him, and laughed.

Barnaby pinched the bridge of his nose above his glasses -- surely trying to make sense out of Kotetsu would give anybody the start of a headache. He was pretty sure that, normally, people didn't just... he didn't even know what Kotetsu thought he was doing, really, but it sounded... well, like a much bigger deal than how Kotetsu seemed to think it sounded. "Maybe I'm too sober for this conversation," he muttered. If he were _completely_ sober, he definitely wouldn't have been having this conversation; he would have let it rest a lot sooner, whether he were satisfied with the answer or not. If he had ever asked at all. 

"So have another drink?" Kotetsu suggested.

Barnaby drained what was left of his glass, poured himself another, and sat back down, now a lot closer to Kotetsu than the last time they'd both been sitting on the floor. "That," he declared, "is the first thing you've said that made sense since... a while ago."

"You're the one who doesn't make any sense," Kotetsu muttered good-naturedly. "A guy treats you nice, you act like he's destroying your whole worldview. Most people would just say thanks."

"That's not..." Barnaby sighed in exasperation. After a long pause, more subdued, "...thanks."

Kotetsu nodded. Then he froze, eyes widening, and he turned to look at Barnaby, perplexed. "...Huh?"

"I said 'thanks'," Barnaby half-snapped, scowling in a way that was at least meant to convey that Kotetsu had better not make a big deal about it.

"I mean... I wasn't expecting it." A slow grin spread across Kotetsu's face, in spite of the way Barnaby was still glaring at him. "...Wow. Uh... thanks."

Maybe the alcohol was kicking in properly, because Barnaby felt warmer all of a sudden. Accompanying it was the contrary thought that maybe he should try thanking the old man more often, if it'd make him smile like that... quickly squashed, because why should he care if Kotetsu smiled in the first place?

Kotetsu caught himself after a minute, though, and quickly took another drink. Barnaby did likewise, because there wasn't any reason why it should be so interesting to see that smile. Even if he had apparently caused it, and even if it was different than the usual doofy grin Kotetsu seemed to be wearing almost anytime he wasn't actively in trouble.

He didn't seem to have a whole lot to say, now that he wasn't trying to get answers out of Kotetsu anymore. And maybe, going by that smile, Kotetsu was content enough to actually exist in silence instead of trying to fill it with meaningless chatter. He was quiet too, both of them lost in their own thoughts for the span of a couple more drinks.

The companionable silence ended when Kotetsu reached up for the bottle he'd been drinking from, grabbed a different one than the one they'd already had open, set it aside, managed to find the right bottle in spite of it being somewhere over his head... tried to pour himself another drink, and ended up tilting the bottle upside-down in momentary dismay as nothing came out. He brightened again when he realized he'd brought that other one down already, though. "Want some?" he offered.

"Why not?" Barnaby finished off the last of his glass and then leaned across the space between them to present it for more booze. He was working on crossing over the line from tipsy to drunk himself; Kotetsu was a drink or two ahead of him, but had more practice.

Kotetsu chuckled again, peering at Barnaby as he poured the drink and set the bottle back down. "Bunny..."

Barnaby frowned at the nickname, but re-settled himself in a more stable sitting position and took a drink before asking, "What?" Belatedly he had the thought that he really shouldn't acknowledge that ridiculous nickname so easily, but Kotetsu said it so often, he was starting to get used to it.

"Bunny... Bunny, Bunny..." Kotetsu rambled absently. "Baaaaaniii..." He trailed off. "...Are you drunk?"

"Possibly," Barnaby conceded. "But not as drunk as you."

"Cause you don't look drunk," Kotetsu observed. "Are you happy?"

"You ask the strangest questions," Barnaby complained without much force. "What's that got to do with if I'm drunk?"

"It's cause I'm happy, and I think I'm drunk." Kotetsu nodded. "...Do you ever giggle when you're drunk?"

"No," said Barnaby, very seriously. "You _think_ you're drunk?" Was there actually still any question?

"Yeah..." Kotetsu narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Pretty sure."

Barnaby kept his expression very, very serious. Somehow. "How can you tell?"

Kotetsu also managed to keep a straight face. "Because I..." Well, mostly. "...Kinda feel like giggling. That's why I asked."

Barnaby was very, very good at keeping a straight face, but Kotetsu could test even his limits. "But you might not be?"

"I could just be happy," Kotetsu reasoned.

"I think you're drunk," Barnaby countered. "And so am I."

"Yeah...?" Kotetsu straightened up somewhat, apparently taking that as some kind of challenge. "...Prove it."

"Prove that I'm drunk? Or that you're drunk?" Nobody who both knew Barnaby and was thinking clearly would have questioned that he was, at the very least, extremely tipsy, but he wasn't thinking clearly enough to pin that down and articulate it.

"That you are." Kotetsu's attempt at a steady gaze was a little wobbly. "I think you're right about me."

The first thought that popped into Barnaby's head might have been pretty good proof all by itself, but he wasn't so drunk that he had no impulse control, or that he didn't know a bad idea when he had one.

Even when it was a surprisingly appealing bad idea.

Instead, he finished off his glass (rather quickly) and scooted over next to Kotetsu, on the side of his uninjured shoulder, and leaned up against him, after a moment putting an arm around Kotetsu's waist to steady himself. Definitely wouldn't do that sober, he reasoned to himself.

Kotetsu raised an eyebrow, startled to the point of confusion. "Mmkay," he muttered. "I believe you." It was almost comical how cautiously Kotetsu lifted his arm and rested it over Barnaby's shoulders, reluctant at first, then just careful, like he thought Barnaby was going to hit him or something.

The thing about being drunk, Barnaby was vaguely aware, was that it was a lot harder to hold onto one thought for very long while also having other thoughts, and it was a lot harder to connect thoughts to each other. Otherwise, having proved himself sufficiently intoxicated, he would have moved away and probably refilled his glass. But Kotetsu was warm and solid, and... it was hard to hold onto the reasons _why_ part of him was telling him to be wary of this sort of contact, to not let it last too long, and Kotetsu was warm and solid... also, he was kind of a sleepy drunk once he was, in fact, drunk and not just tipsy.

Kotetsu's arm settled a little more sturdily over Barnaby. His hand even squeezed one of his shoulders a little. It was all nice, if awkward -- unexpectedly nice. Barnaby relaxed, comfortable... until Kotetsu froze, and jerked his hand up quickly.

Barnaby tensed too, half straightening up, which left him face to face with Kotetsu's sheepish grin. After a moment, he connected the dots -- the hand that had been draped over his shoulder still held Kotetsu's glass, which hadn't been completely empty, and now there was a trickle of amber liquid on his shirt sleeve.

...okay, yeah, awkward. Reluctantly (Kotetsu was still warm), Barnaby removed his arm from around Kotetsu's waist and scooted a few feet away again. "Uh, sorry..." Kotetsu mumbled, setting the glass down. "'ll get a towel..."

Barnaby shook his head, starting to get up himself. "You're drunker than I am." Whether that was true or whether they were tied was perhaps debatable, but then Kotetsu beat him to his feet anyway... didn't look entirely steady once he got there, but he managed.

"No, it's okay--" Kotetsu was already heading for the kitchen by the time Barnaby was standing, and obviously forgetting that the room had steps. He did manage to only flail around to catch his balance after stumbling, though, rather than falling flat on his face. "I'm good."

"Could've fooled me," Barnaby said, but he decided that staying put and not pulling a similar stunt, when Kotetsu was already on his way, would do.

Kotetsu didn't take long to locate a towel, and managed to remember the stairs on the way back; he sat down on them, and tossed the towel to Barnaby. Barnaby failed to completely disguise a snicker as he caught the towel, and mopped at the spill, which really wasn't very big anyway.

Kotetsu had settled down to rub at his head, but that little sound perked him up. "...Did you laugh?"

"No," Barnaby said; snickering didn't count. Once he'd got his sleeve as dry as it was going to get after a moment, he dropped the towel on the table. ...did he want another drink or not? He was vaguely aware that he was going to feel unpleasant in the morning already.

"You laughed," Kotetsu told him cheerfully.

"Did not." That was pretty good proof he was drunk, too. One more wouldn't make that much of a difference in the morning, though, so Barnaby went ahead and collected his glass, then poured another drink.

"You did," Kotetsu insisted, and got up again after all to replace the drink he'd spilled. "You laughed."

"How would you know?" Barnaby was at least aware that he didn't laugh or joke around much, and he was pretty sure Kotetsu hadn't seen him laugh before.

"Because I heard you!" Approaching the table, Kotetsu poked Barnaby in the chest with a knowing look. "Don't get all weird about it -- it's cute!"

Barnaby scowled at Kotetsu for poking him, without much force. "I thought you said I wasn't cute."

"It's cute when you laugh." Kotetsu lurched past him and grabbed a bottle, the glass either lost or forgotten. "Cause you don't laugh."

Barnaby made a dismissive noise, since he had no particular desire for anyone to think he was cute, and he (obviously) didn't see much reason to laugh most of the time.

Kotetsu, on the other hand, seemed to rather like laughing, and laughed his way back to the steps with the bottle he'd picked up. Barnaby scowled at him. "What's so funny?" ...besides Kotetsu's drunken laughter, which was silly enough that he might have snickered again if he weren't so busy scowling.

That made Kotetsu laugh some more. "I dunno," he managed, then managed to quiet himself enough to think about it. "...I wanted to make you laugh... guess I did." Which also seemed to be funny, and he wheezed a little bit as he lifted the bottle to take a drink.

Barnaby made another dismissive noise, since he couldn't think of any good reason why Kotetsu should want to make him laugh, and sat down on the steps himself with his glass.

Kotetsu gave up and just plunked the bottle down as he flopped down on his back, cracking up. At least, until he hit the floor. "...Ow."

That made Barnaby straighten up a little in actual concern. "Are you okay? ...or are you just being an idiot again?"

Kotetsu just started laughing again, if slightly more subdued. "...Forgot... I'm good," he told Barnaby vaguely, clutching his side, as he slid into outright giggles.

"Are you sure?" Barnaby asked dubiously, even if Kotetsu apparently thought it was hilarious.

"I'm fine," Kotetsu wheezed between giggles. "...Hurts." But he kept laughing even so.

"You idiot," Barnaby complained (and even drunk he would deny doing so fondly). After a moment, "...you can sleep in the chair, by the way."

"Nah, it's okay, it's fine," Kotetsu insisted breathlessly, trying to calm himself down. "'M good right here..." He squeezed his eyes shut, grinning. "Don't wanna get up anyway."

"If you're sure," Barnaby said dubiously. Then again, he vaguely recalled saying something about falling out of the chair, and Kotetsu was definitely drunk enough to do that.

"Yeah..." Kotetsu murmured, and then after a second, "...Thanks, Bunny. You're a good partner."

"...thanks," Barnaby murmured, a little distracted by the sudden warm feeling in his chest.

"I mean, letting me come over and everything... showin' me your stuff... have some drinks... an' you can fight too," Kotetsu rambled, not entirely grasping the fact that Barnaby wasn't arguing with him. "Best partner ever."

"You're very drunk," Barnaby murmured, but that didn't stop him from smiling, just a little.

"Yeaaaahhh..." Kotetsu drawled. "How 'bout you?"

"Almost as drunk," Barnaby concluded. Also drowsy, which was vaguely annoying, except that it was getting later, and if he did have a hangover the next morning it'd only be worse if he slept too little.

"Good..." Kotetsu murmured.

"If you say so." Barnaby didn't think it was all that bad, at least, and he couldn't have done much about it even if he had.

"Mm-hmm," mumbled Kotetsu sleepily.

Barnaby was definitely starting to feel sleepy himself, and scooted down the steps so he could at least recline on his side without being draped over the stairs. He leaned his head on his hand and watched Kotetsu, not that he could see all that much when Kotetsu was above the steps.

He could hear plenty, though; once they weren't actively conversing, it didn't take long until Kotetsu was snoring, and without Kotetsu to talk to, it wasn't much longer before Barnaby laid his head down on his arm and drifted off to sleep as well, without even remembering to remove his glasses.


End file.
